A Collector Shares a 1915-S Panama-Pacific Gold Commemorative Dollar on CoinTalk
On the CoinTalk forum, member lordmarcovan shared a 1915-S Panama-Pacific Exposition gold commemorative dollar listed as PCGS MS63; the latest date in its stated provenance is 15 January 2025. Replies turned to the exposition's $2 1/2 and $50 gold pieces and to a gold dollar that had circulated.
Correction (Oct 13, 2026): We rewrote the headline, summary and body to match the source forum thread. We removed the unsupported English headline claim of a 40-50% rise in five years and investment-related keywords, corrected the statement that the MS63 coin had circulated (the circulated coin belonged to another member), fixed paraphrases presented as quotations, and repaired sentences that had been cut off. The previous headlines were "1915-S Panama-Pacific Gold Coin Up 40-50% in 5 Years" (English) and "「50ドル金貨の妹」と呼ばれた1915-S記念金貨。流通の痕跡に集まったコレクターの視線" (Japanese).
This article is based on a thread on the CoinTalk forum. The source does not show the date of the post; the latest date in the poster's stated provenance is 15 January 2025. What follows are the members' own statements and opinions, not facts verified by GNJ.
The coin
Member lordmarcovan shared a 1915-S gold commemorative dollar issued for the Panama-Pacific Exposition.
The post lists the coin as PCGS MS63, with certification number 18703633. The poster gives a mintage of 15,000.
On provenance, the poster lists the coin as ex-Dennis Semisalov ("ddddd" on CoinTalk), 15 January 2025, and writes that its prior provenance was Great Collections, Item #1587511, 27 October 2024.
The design
The poster says the design was produced by the sculptor Charles Keck. It portrays the capped head of a Panama Canal worker, because the exposition celebrated the opening of the Panama Canal. The pair of dolphins on the reverse, the poster writes, represent the joining of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans by the canal.
The poster calls the exposition's octagonal $50 gold piece a United States "dream coin," but says they will never be able to afford one and will settle for its "little sister," the gold dollar.
Replies
Member David Betts mentioned the 1915-S $2 1/2 Pan-Pac as the "big sister." The poster replied that it is the middle sister, if the poster's own coin is the little sister and the $50 pieces are the big sisters.
The poster noted that member fretboard's gold dollar actually circulated and wondered how many of them did, given that the gold dollar denomination had been defunct for 26 years by the time these were struck. fretboard replied that, according to the grade, it definitely circulated.
Member ksparrow said it is the member's favorite $1 gold commemorative and added, "(it passed at CAC)."
Source: CoinTalk, "United States: 1915-S gold commemorative dollar, Panama-Pacific Exposition."
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